Date: Friday, November 16, 2007

Location: Suffolk University Law School, 120 Tremont St., Boston, MA
Time: 09:30 AM - 11:30 AM

On Friday, November 16, Suffolk University Law School will join a number of institutions and law schools across the United States, in hosting a "briefing day" on the subject of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), with emphasis on the fact that the United States has not yet ratified this almost universally accepted treaty. In conjunction with the Campaign for U.S. Ratification, the purpose of the event is to explore the potential benefit to children in the United States of future ratification, and analyze why the U.S. has so far not taken that step. The event will allow local and regional groups involved in child welfare to discuss how the UNCRC relates to their own work.

The UNCRC, which came in to effect in 1990 is a wide ranging convention on children's rights, and is credited with helping to establish in international law the concept that children are the autonomous holders of rights. Incredibly, the United States and Somalia are the only two countries in the world not to have ratified this influential convention. Proponents of US ratification argue that the convention would provide child advocates with an array of new legal tools and perspectives in such areas as children's health, education and state protection.

FACULTY

Rangita de Silva-de Alwis
Senior Advisor on International Programs, Wellesley Centers for Women

Senator Jarrett Barrios, President
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Professor Elizabeth Spahn New England School of Law

Congressional Staff Person (TBA)